Thursday, 13 March 2014

Product Review: Mamas & Papas Baby Snug

Mamas
and Papas Baby Snug (£39.95)

Additional
Play tray (£14.95)

We
purchased the Baby Snug from Mamas & Papas just before Christmas when our
baby was 4 ½ months old. We stumbled across this product while in store
actually looking for a suitable highchair to use for when he started weaning.
We decided to put our son in it to see if he liked it before we bought it and
he looked delighted! It supported him in an upright position as he was not yet
sitting up unaided, and the clip on tray meant he was not able fall out
forwards. Another customer told us she’d purchased one for her baby and that he
really enjoyed sitting in it too. We decided to go for the deep plum purple
colour, but there was a good choice of other colours too (including raspberry,
putty grey, green, teal and red).

At 5
months, we were able to use the Baby Snug as his first chair for the early
stages of weaning. With the wide circular base, the baby Snug is designed as a
floor seat, not as a seat to be placed on a chair (hence no safety fastenings).
The floor level position allows babies the chance to sit upright in a safe and
secure position. Our baby certainly enjoyed the new perspective of being able
to sit up and watch what was going on around him, (without mummy having to
support his sitting) giving him a different perspective from the reclined
position of a bouncer chair. When he first used the Baby Snug, he would stay in
it for 10-15 minutes at a time before getting tired of sitting up and throwing
his head backwards. However, he is now able to sit independently himself, hence
his neck muscles are also strong enough to allow him to sit in the snug for
longer.

We
perhaps didn’t pay enough attention to the point of it being a floor seat and
thought we would be able to get more meal time use out of the chair than we
did. In reality, feeding a baby whilst sitting on the floor becomes more tiring
than one would imagine. If you decide to move onto having baby sitting at the
table with mummy and daddy for mealtimes, you may find the Baby Snug becomes
more useful for snack times and playtimes. Having moved away from using the
Baby Snug as our son began eating meals in a highchair at the table with us, I’ve recently started using it again during the day and have found that he
enjoys using it even more now that he is able to sit unaided than he did when
he was 5 months old. He now appreciates and enjoys the removable playtray (a
strongly recommended purchase) more than he did before and it keeps him
entertained for a good 20 minutes.

The
plus points:

·
It’s
lightweight so it’s easy to take to grandparent’s houses when we have meals
there.

·
It’s
super easy to keep clean and hygienic (no messy straps).

·
Its
moulded seat is cushioned and comfortable.

·
The
additional playtray makes the chair multi-use.

·
Great
for early stages of weaning.

·
Super
easy to assemble/disassemble.

·
Its
simple and ergonomic design looks cool and stylish.

Room
for improvement:

·
It
can be tricky to pick up one handed. A cut out hole at the back of the base
would make a great handle.

·
The
white plastic tray has to be taken off and clipped back on each time so you can
get baby in and out of the chair.

·
Develop
a way for it to be safely attached to chairs so babies can be fed at table
height.

Overall,
I am pleased with the product as it definitely helped our son with sitting up
safely when he started weaning. It is spacious and will last him a long time so
presents good value for money. It’s a pity that the Baby Snug can’t be safely
attached to a chair so it can be used at table height. This has meant that I’ve
had to make the additional purchase of a highchair. I can however sit him in it
to watch me get on with some of my jobs and know he is safe. When he outgrows
the inner moulded part of the seat (from around 12 months) I can remove the
seat insert and he can continue to enjoy the chair as a toddler.